Glossary

Cold Throw

Smelling a candle without burning it. If you can smell the fragrance whilst the candle is "cold" then the candle is said to have a good cold throw.

A candle with a good cold throw can provide a subtle fragrance in a small room.

Hot Throw

The scent given off by a candle whilst it is lit, or essentially "hot". This is the whole purpose of buying the candle and if the candle doesn't give a good hot throw it isn't performing as you need it to.

Wax Pool

This is the liquid wax on top of the candle. Candles need to be lit until the wax pool reaches the edge of the container to give the best performance on your current burn as well as future burns. The wax pool should also be no more than 20mm deep or your candle is at risk of getting too hot.

Tunnelling

If a candle doesn't create a large enough wax pool, or is only lit for a short period, then a candle can tunnel. This is where wax isn't consumed around the edge of the container and a "tunnel" is created in the middle of the candle. Whilst not only consuming all of the wax, the candle may also drown and not reach its full burn time

Drowning

Caused by too small a wick being used, so it is drowned out by the wax. In this case, the candle will likely have a small flame, not give off a very good fragrance throw and peter out before the wax has been consumed.

A candle can also drown if the candle tunnels due to not allowing the wax to reach the edge of the container on any of its burn cycles.

Self extinguishing wicks

If your wick has gone out on its own mid-burn then it is said to have self-extinguished.

This can happen if the candle has drowned due to an incorrect wick selection (too small) or your candle has tunnelled (wick too small/not burned to the edge previously). Another cause is burning your candle in a draught which is not a good place for your candle to be.

Candle Memory

A candle remembers where the wax pool was the last time it was lit. This is called candle memory as the candle will then only pool as wide as it reached on previous burns.

Therefore, if you don't burn the candle until the pool reaches the edge of the container then next time it will likely only go as far again.

Burn Time

The total length of time a candle should burn for if cared for and burnt in 2 to 4 hour cycles.

Clubbing

Not the Friday night sort! This is clubbing of the wick and is often caused from either having too large a wick in the candle or the wick length being too long when lit. Always trim the candle wick(s) to 5-8mm before each burn cycle.

Clubbing can also be caused by having a candle burning in a draught which affects the efficient burn performance of the candle.

Burn Cycle

A burn cycle is the time from lighting the wick until it is extinguished. Each cycle should be for a minimum of 2 hours and a maximum of 4 hours.

Sooting

This is where the candle produces black soot which means the candle is not burning efficiently. There is a misconception that this is limited to paraffin wax candles but it does apply to natural wax candles too. A good performing candle, with a good steady flame, burnt away from draughts or other sources of heat, will not produce excessive soot.

Wick Trimming

To cut your candle wick after each use, once the candle has cooled, to around 5mm to 8mm. This helps keep your candle burning clean and ensures you get the best performance from your candle.

CLP

All fragranced products that are sold/given away fall under the CLP regulations. This is why all your scented items tend to have those symbols on with the red diamond.
These apply even if you have home made products being sold at a car boot so means all products must be labelled with key information that provides details to the end consumer.
This includes warning symbols, declarable allergens/sensitisers, contact details and product weight.

All fragrances are different so the chances are every different fragrance has a completely different set of CLP labelling required.

You'll be pleased to know that all of our home fragrance products are labelled and fully CLP compliant.

If there are any other terms you've heard and want to know what they mean, drop us an email via our contact page and we'll get back to you then add it to the list above.